1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to ergonomically designed keyboards for typewriters, personal computers, electronic musical keyboard instruments and the like. In particular, applicant's keyboard has keys arranged on a convex curve and has contoured padding underneath to comfortably rest the keyboard on a user's thighs, or to be placed on any other supportive surface, i.e. typing desk.
2. Prior Art
Persons whose job entails a significant portion of typing or data entry are prone to stress and repetitive task injuries to fingers, hands, wrists and shoulders. Adverse effects of repetitive tasks may range from mild discomfort, tendonitis and bursitis, leading to stiffness, and to carpal tunnel syndrome, caused by repetitive motion which may require surgical repair. In an effort to reduce injury to workers and increase efficiency, various designs have been proposed based on ergonomic considerations.
Vollbery, German Patent No. 552,611 discloses a keyboard with a left side and right side angled inward. There is a triangular section without keys between each of the sides. Further, each side of the keyboard forms a concave surface. In another prior art reference, Ryan, et al., International Patent Application WO 84/00518, the surface of the keyboard may be adjusted to suit a user. In Ryan, et al. the rows of keys are arranged on flexible bars. A compressive force may be applied to the ends of an individual bar to cause the bar to bow upward from the base of the keyboard. The distance that each row of keys is curved outward may be independently adjusted. A drawback of the aforementioned keyboard is that the underside of the keyboard necessarily houses the adjusting mechanism, thus limiting the ergonomic design possibilities for a lap top keyboard.
The layout of the individual keys on a keyboard may be modified to accommodate the length and range of motion of the user's fingers. Diernisse, U.S. Pat. No. 4,824,268 discloses a keyboard designed to take advantage of the irregular shape of a user's hands. The keyboard is arranged to match the characters most often used with the more dexterous digits of the hand. Adaptations of the Diernisse keyboard would require that those accustomed to the standard "QWERTY" keyboard be retrained.
Various apparatus are known in the prior art for supporting a console or desk on a person's lap or thighs. Examples of "lap top" supports may be found in the following patents:
U.S. Pat. No. 3,215,453 entitled "Flight Log and Approach Chart Presentation Apparatus" issued to R. Malcolm, Jr. on Nov. 2, 1965; PA0 U.S. Pat. No. 4,052,944 entitled "Portable Shuffle Desk" issued to Russel A. Jennings on Oct. 11, 1977; PA0 U.S. Pat. No. 4,518,164 entitled "Video Game Control Console" issued to Robert L. Hayford, Jr. on May 21, 1985; and PA0 U.S. Pat. No. 4,700,634 entitled "Lap-Oriented Portable Desk Units" issued to Arthur Mills, et al. on Oct. 20, 1987.